so the 1st egg was just on the ground in the run. do i train?

[backdoorchicken]

and if so, how?

or will they eventually just use the next boxes provided?

 

[tunaoftheland]

I put golf balls in my nest boxes and they got the idea pretty quick of where to lay.

 

[antlers]

give them a week or two. They will figure it out. A golfball or fake egg will not hurt in the nest. They like that.

 

[TXmom]

I found my first 3 eggs on the floor in the coop, but after that all eggs were in the nest boxes. I put golf balls in the boxes and it worked. The only eggs on the floor after that were the Silkie eggs...she has never learned to lay in the nest boxes no matter what I do.

 

[backdoorchicken]

we already had golf balls in the nest. i have been opening the nest box so they can come visit with me while in the nest. aside from that they never go in them.

 

[gottalovemychickens]

my chickens arent that dumb , i had to put real eggs in the nest and they started laying them in there. So if a egg was laid today , id pick up that egg tomorrow and so on

 

[tunaoftheland]

Quote:
They will probably get the hang of it pretty quick then, several of mine laid their first or second eggs on the floor before switching to the box. I think the first time they're like, "Ah! What was that?" Then they're like, "oh, an egg, okay"

 

[NC_Chick0403]

I have found a couple of eggs in the run...I figure it was the newbie layers and they didn't realize what was happening.

We have some that lay in nesting boxes and others that lay on the floor of the coop. To accommodate we just put straw hay in the dark corners so they can decide if they want to use the box or the floor.

We did try the golf balls, but I think my chickens played with them because we found them all over the place - thankfully they don't play with the eggs.

 

[felidaet]

I have found 3 or 4 on the floor of the coop and a couple in the run this year. They are usually very small or a paper thin shell. I think it is the first egg. Then no more for a few days. I have 17 hens that have started laying in the last few weeks. Some are not laying yet. It seems like they find the nest boxes by the time they lay their 2nd or 3rd egg.

I have had the nest boxes available to them since I put them in the coop at about 8 weeks old. They showed no interest in the nests until they started laying. I have straw and three golf balls in each nest box.

 

[greathorse]

I am going to submit the theory that if you are getting them to go in the box and then you are hanging out with them, they will be less likely to use the box than if you just left them alone.

Once a little bit experienced they will seek the darker more solitary places to lay. I would not get them associated with interruption or they will never go in there to lay an egg.